Cerridius

So Im making this thread to show you all pictures of my progress on my engine swap and also if I need help =D ....

Here is the engine!

Cerridius

some stuff for the 400

Cerridius

my engine with my hood off =D

Cerridius

few more stuff, Still waiting on my dual fans and aluminum fan shroud

Cerridius

Got the t-5 out yesterday, rebuilt like 1500 miles ago but im about to replace it with a t-56 lol..... I striped this bolt today, luckily it wasnt to the block. Also look at this header fail! It wasnt welded in the middle, luckily i already got that fixed though.

Cerridius

Also wonder about this flywheel. It was used on a LT-1 with the T-56, now I know the 400 is externally balanced so I dont think this flywheel will work out with it what flywheel do i need?

Cerridius

Didnt get much done today, just got some of the brackets off and my friend brought over his engine hoist today so Ill assemble it tomorrow and hopefully pull out the 305

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Hmmm, single plane spreadbore intake. What is that?

What rockers are those?

The LT1 is a 1-piece rear main seal crank. Your 400 is 2-piece rear main. The two aren't compatible. McLeod makes a flywheel for your application http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MCL-460370/ , but it is 153-tooth, and internal balance - you'll need a bolt-on balance plate http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SES-3-60-11-026/. Make sure a 3rd gen type starter will bolt to your block - if not, get it to a machine shop NOW and have them drill, tap, and ream the bolt hole you need.

Cerridius

I just got the engine out today! Ill go check right now to see if the starter will bolt onto the 400, its a ministarter and it only uses 2 bolts. Ok so I guess im screwed on the flywheel huh... At $469 i think i should go with that Centerforce flywheel.. meh, ill get some pics up of the engine out and the starter.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Which Centerforce flywheel?

I thought I had seen a 168-tooth, 2-piece rear main seal, externally balanced T56 flywheel in the past, but it didn't show up this time. I may have been thinking of a 1-piece RMS type. Give the flywheel guys a call, they may know/have what you need.

Cerridius

Heres the engine out with my granpda posing
Also, how do i take the TBI harness out.. i know you can take it all out at once through the hole in the passenger fender.

Cerridius

Here is the centerforce flywheel I'm talking about http://www.jegs.com/i/Centerforce/18...oductId=751576

and sadly.... the starter does not bolt up
The intake is a holley street dominator intake

Cerridius

So im trying to take my TBI harness out, just wondering if this is what i need to take out to get the thing out in one peice

Cerridius

Ok so basically I can get rid of wires that are on the passenger side correct? But the TBI harness that runs into the hole in the passenger fender also has some wires that run behind the engine, across the firewall and into the driver firewall right next to the brake booster... can i take that out with the TBI harness and be ok? I dont know what wires i need to keep for my new engine witch will be Carb. Id like to keep all my gauges except the temperature gauge.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Not sure why it says "except 400/454, counterbalanced". Should be "for 400/454" (checks out on summitracing.com). Note it is 153-tooth, so a 400 starter won't work with it.

Not too surprising.

Ah. I guess I haven't seen that many Holley intake manifolds.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

The harness that goes to the passenger fenderwell goes to the kick panel to pass through to the ECM. Take off the plastic fender liner. Take out the kick panels beside and above the passenger feet. The ECM is mounted up there behind the dash. Take the screws out and drop it down. Take off the connectors on the ECM that go to the harness coming from the kick panel. Unclip the bulkhead connector from the inside. From the fenderwell, pull the harness out of the passenger compartment. From the engine compartment, pull the harness out of the fenderwell. Anything going to that harness can be pulled out of the car. You may have to unwrap some of it from the other harness(es).

The gauges, ignition power, lights, starter, etc., go to the bulkhead connectors in the rear corner driver side engine compartment.

What are you going to do for fuel supply?

Cerridius

The car was a 305tbi so it has electric pump, I was thinking on the 400 I should just keep the electric pump going and run it to a mechanical fuel pump that runs up to the carb. The TBI pump electric pump puts out like 15psi right? If i can run it to the mechanical pump, would the mechanical pump regulate it down to 7psi? or would i need a fuel pressure regulator inbetween the electric and mechanical pumps.

Also on the TBI harness, this is the part that im worried about. My dad wants me to wait before I start pulling wires out because it seems like some wires on the harness we would need. Like the wires that go to the starter that are on the harness. Wondering how I would get the starter to do its thing without the wires on the TBI harness.

The part I marked in green is whats got me stumped... It's connected to the TBI harness so I'm thinking its ok to get rid of, then again its going to the driverside wall witch ive read you should keeps things that are on the driver side. Do you know what it is?

Cerridius

Ok I have read alot and I think I got it... Those wires that I marked green stay, i just seperate them from the other wires. I guess I need to just take that black casing off from around the wires and seperate them!

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

If you use the stock in-tank electric pump, you MUST use a return line. The stock 3rd gen V8 carb system used an engine-mounted mechanical pump that includes a return line. Do not use any other type of engine-mounted mechanical pump.

cuisinartvette

His is a real old school street dominator.
They later came out with the 300-36 and called it the same thing also looks like a high rise Z82 piece, dual plane.

Cerridius

You told me in another post that I should use this one The Carter M6626, because it has all the lines. Im most likely gonna go with that one since it has those.

I want to do a few more things before I assemble the engine... paint the brackets, engine bay and the engine (dont like orange) also I'm gonna get that manifold powdercoated. What kind of paint do you guys thing would be good for the brackets, bay and the engine? Just Autozone paint? Or some stuff online like eastwood.

red406

iTrader: (4)

It looks like the starter is upside down.

Cerridius

eh.. it might be, but it still woudlnt bolt up. gonna go mess with the wires today

Cerridius

Ok so im seperating wires right now. I know alot of the wires that are not needed for a Carb engine come out of the passenger side and I know you keep all your driver side wires, but what about the wires that run from the driver side all the way to the passenger side.

red406

iTrader: (4)

The starter is on the passenger side. I think the starter alone has 2 or 3 wires needed. I believe that there will be two red wires with fuseable links and 1 heavy purple wire.

Cerridius

Ok so I tried seperating them today... I have to say that... I fail
It seemed like over half the wires that run on the driverside next to the mastercylinder run all the way into the passenger fender. All i managed to do was seperate some of the wires that go onto the Throttle body. Also I think the starter wires actualy run from the driver side. There was like 3thick red wires and 1big purple wire witch i know are for the starter.

Anyway, since this is my first engine swap and Im fairly new to working on cars. I think I will just leave the wires alone for now, then when I put the new engine in, I'll connect the wires nessacery for the engine to run properly and also for the AC to operate. Then ill just tuck the reamaining wires away.

Got some Eastwood paint OTW for my engine, I could probably use the rest on my engine bay to, and the bottom of my hood! Tomorrow I'm going to pressure wash the engine pay and get it ready for paint! =D

Cerridius

Gave it a pressure wash today!

Cerridius

Ok so I need some advice on a couple of things because I keep getting mixed answers.
The engine is a 400 with about 350hp and a Holley 750cfm carb
My initial plan was to just keep the stock electric fuel pump and run the lines into a mechanical fuel pump witch would feed my carb. But I was told that my stock fuel pump is a POS and it would just burn out in a couple of weeks. Is that true?

I guess another option would be to drop the fueltank and replace the stock one with a different one, but I would not know where to go from there, I could also CUT the top of the tank and make a trap door and do that instead of dropping the tank (I REALLY dont want to drop the tank)

So what do you guys think?

Cerridius

Just got my dual fans today :]

mikey88firebird

Me personally, I would get the starter and flywheel situation took care of before I did any wiring or anything else, simply because waiting until you've got the engine in and all wired up then dealing with it it will be alot harder to mess with ! now on the fuel pump why not just run the mechanical one that goes to the block and hook up your return and sender?

Cerridius

yea im gonna work out the starter bolt hole situation before i put the engine in for sure. On the fuel issue, i think i might just go with a Mallory 4309 FPR. Ive asked alot of ppl that run carb with the stock electric fuel pump with this FPR and they have been fine for years.

mikey88firebird

I mean if budget isnt a problem then go with the fpr but all it would take is dropping the tank and removing the elec fuel pump and replacing it with a piece of fuel line the same length as the fuel pump preferably with a strainer or "sock" on the end of it. wiring; all you need is the alternator,starter and a hot wire to run HEI distributor you can use the wire off the coil harness for your tach

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

The best carb fuel delivery system, IMO, involves an electric pump back by or in the tank. Yours is already in the tank, so just keep it. A mechanical pump is a poor system in every respect except that it's cheap and a little easier to replace than an in-tank electric. A mechanical pump delivers fuel in pulses, tries to suck fuel uphill and against acceleration, can't suck when the fuel gets hot in the supply line, and puts gasoline in the oil pan when the diaphragm fails. I'm glad to be rid of them.

If your primary goal is a system that reliably feeds the engine, you'll be doing an electric pump.

Cerridius

The damn bolt hole is really holding me back, cant find a machine shop to do it.
Got engine paint in though today so thats good.
Waiting on my T-56 crossmember/torque arm from spohn.

Question on the t-56... Any1 have a link to the product you buy to make the T-56 work on my speedo since my car is an 88'?

mikey88firebird

on the fuel pump, five7 your right Im sorry cerridius if I in any way misled you!

now on the t56 speedo question:

red406

iTrader: (4)

Instead of taking your block to a machine shop, why don't you find a staggered bolt pattern starter? Do you have alot of compression? Do you need a mini starter?

Cerridius

The compression is probably like 9.5:1 so i guess i really wouldnt need the mini starter.
Do you know of a starter that has a staggered bolt pattern that will work with a 153 flywheel?

red406

iTrader: (4)

I missed that you were using a 153 tooth flywheel. I found this on summit's website. It is a little pricey though. It might be cheaper to find a different flywheel.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CSI-100PSBP/

Cerridius

I wonder if i can just get that adapter seperatly and put it on my starter.

jstoltz

iTrader: (16)

Why not just use a 400 starter? I think I paid around $60 from Ebay with shipping.When i did my 406 swap that is what I had in there and used hedman long tubes and it cleared well.

Cerridius

My dad is just going to drill the hole for me.

The 400 starter is for a 168 tooth flywheel and that wont match my t56 or even fit in the bellhousing.

jstoltz

iTrader: (16)

yeah may as well just drill and tap the hole and use the mini starter you already have. only other option is to buy an msd or powermaster they have them staggared for 153 or 168).

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

It's more than a simple drill & tap. The top (or bottom, depending upon your point of reference) of the hole is reamed to precisely locate the starter. That's why starter bolts are knurled on the shank.

Cerridius

Rear end gears, 4.10 Thick for my rear end.
Also got the flywheel today

Cerridius

About ready to paint it, got it all taped up!

Cerridius

got the engine bay painted! looks awesome! Ill post pics of it later.

I have a few questions on my engine.

What do i need to do to put the pushrods and lifers in? Dont i have to soak the lifters in oil or something?

Also im putting a t56 behind my 400, what do i need for the t-56 hydraulics? I have a t56 slave clyinder, but do i need a t56 master cylinder?

Any specifics on drilling the hole on the block for the starter?

Cerridius

Heres the bay painted! Ignore that run off, im gonna fix it and plus it wont be seen anyway.

Cerridius

Got my Mallory FPR and now Dual Jeg hat +15 HP!

Cerridius

Spohn Torque arm and Crossmember

Cerridius

painted the engine red.

What do you all do for your lifters? I have a video that just says put some assembly lube on the bottom of the lifter, and dump a half quart of oil on them and just slide them in. Or do you guys reccomend soaking them over night in oil?